Mentally Lost
by JustaBunchaHOOPLA
Summary: Will lost, mentally not physically. Who will find him? Will he ever recover? Please read and review! REVIEW! It's much appreciated. :    I have changed the category for this..it's not really adventure. It says Will and Alyss but it's not really a romance. Read at your own risk... it was my first fic
1. Missing

**So, I'm sort of writing before Will and Alyss's wedding, if you've read **_**The Lost Stories**_**. Review if you hate it, review if you like it, review if you could care less. I will accept constructive criticism. By the way, this is my first fan fiction. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Ranger's Apprentice characters, as they are owned by Mr. John Flanagan. Any characters made by me are mine. Yay me! I own Phil and Nudge!**

**Mentally Lost by: JustaBunchaHOOPLA**

Chapter 1: Missing

Twang! Twang! Twang! The repeated slap of the bowstring against his leather cuff rang out through the silence. Bam! Bam! Bam! Three arrows hit their mark, straight in the bulls-eye. Hoping Will would be home soon, he ran to retrieve his arrows.

"So, this must young Phil, Will keeps talking about you!" a female voice rang clear across the clearing, startling Phil and breaking into his thoughts.

"Yes sir, I mean madam!" he jumped to attention, giving a half salute. Dressed in an elegant courier gown, she stood a head and a half taller than him. Weren't couriers supposed to be more formal? Like, aren't they supposed to knock or something?

"Who are you?" Phil asked, quite rudely.

"I see Will hasn't taught you manners, as he doesn't have any himself." she said, one eyebrow up in amusement. "By the way, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Alyss, and as you might know, Will and I are getting married. I have come to tell you, and Will should be here and time now." Wow, Phil thought to himself. She even has perfect grammar.

"Where is Will?" he asked, "He went to get coffee, but he should be here by now. I'm surprised he didn't send me to get it."

"Ah, yes. He had to," she paused, looking for the right word, "_consult_ Halt for some wedding stuff. Although, what does Halt know about weddings?"

"Oh. Well, he did have a wedding. Wait, do I have to write a speech?" Phil asked warily. He had heard of Will's speech for Cassandra and Horace's wedding, and he had heard it didn't go to well. But, in the end, he ended up going on a mission that destroyed it. It was much better after that. I mean the fullmostest of heart? What does that mean?

"Yes, yes, that would be good. Write a speech. Now, where is Will?" she looked around in slight annoyance.

"Well, you're not gonna find him here. This is the middle of the woods if you haven't noticed. He's not gonna find coffee here." Phil pointed out. "I think we should ride out to town to look for him. I'm really thirsty."

"For what? You're not old enough-Oh, wait, let me guess. Coffee." She answered dryly. _Rangers and their coffee_, she muttered to herself. "C'mon, let's go look for Will. He must be somewhere."

"Maybe he got the coffee, drank it, then drank so much he couldn't ride back. Or, maybe he got the coffee and apples for Tug, then Tug ate too many apples and they couldn't ride back. I'm not sure why, but Will, Halt, and Gilan are always telling me to stop feeding Nudge apples, but they always feed their horses apples. I don't get it! Why? But I thought yo-"  
>"You're not helping," Alyss interrupted, "By the way, you're too young to think, you're only an apprentice."<p>

"Shut up," he grumbled, hating it when anyone told him that. And he thought Alyss was supposed to be nice. So much for that.

"Come on, and bring Ebony with us," she chose to ignore his comment. Phil sighed, then called Ebony over to the door while going to saddle up Nudge.

"Let me go saddle up Nudge. Can you get my arrows?"

"Okay, hurry," she called to him, watching him walk to the lean-to, before going to fetch his arrows. _He's so much like Will_, she reflected, _He'll be a good ranger someday. I just hope Will's okay, he's can't be that long. _Sighing, she muttered about how rangers are always somewhere, lurking in the shadows. _He'll turn up somewhere. He always does.  
><em>


	2. Search

Chapter 2: Search

Meanwhile, at the inn…

"May I have-," Will was cut off by a pierced scream and a horse's whinny, coming from the stables. What was that? Irritated by the interruption, he resumed talking to the owner. They were familiar with Will, and knew exactly what he came for. Coffee.

"Where's the ranger?" a young boy's voice called out. Recognizing it as one of the stable hands, Will rushed over to see what happened. Knowing he should've kept an eye out for that boy, he hoped Tug was okay. The owner sighed, and then went to the kitchen to grab his coffee beans. Five pounds as usual.

"What's the problem here?" Will ran into the stables, knocking over a few people as he went. Eyes wide, he looked over at Tug, on his rear legs.

"Tug! Stop!" Will yelled, trying to protect the boy. Jumping in front of him, the boy cringed behind, whimpering. CRASH! The boy looked down, eyes as wide as the moon. Will. On the ground. Unconscious. _What have I done, _the boy thought._ I've killed a ranger. _The boy moaned_, What am I going to do?_

Back to Phil and Alyss…

"Did you hear that?" Phil asked, poking Alyss in the elbow.

"It's probably just Will, making a commotion because there's no coffee." she sighed. A crash followed. "And that's also him, making _another_ commotion because there's no apples for Tug"

"Aha!" Phil cried triumphantly, "So he does give apples to Tug!" a victorious look filled his eyes.

"Hmmmm," Alyss sighed. "You two will just never stop going at it."

"But wait, what if he is really hurt… That would be bad."

Alyss sighed again. "Let's just go in and see what happened. He might not even be in there."

The rode the last little bit in silence, and went to the stables to tether up their horses.


	3. Discovery

**So, this is chapter three, if you haven't noticed. Read, review, and enjoy! XD**

Chapter 3: Discovery

"W-w-will?" Alyss asked, her heart struck by terror. _This cannot be happening to me. _She held back choked sobs, not wanting Phil, or anyone for that matter, to see. Alyss wanted to run, run as far away as possible, away from this mess, this madness that was happening. She started toward he horse, which was tethered up next to Nudge, who did not need to be tethered up. Nudge was ranger horse. Just like Will was a ranger. A scared sob escaped her lips. Phil looked as pale as a ghost.

"I-i-is-is he dead?" Phil stammered, nudging him with his foot. A startled cry came from Alyss, who had half a mind to start running away. Actually, she had about 99.999999% of her mind to run away. But, that would mean leaving Will. She shook her head defiantly, just like Tug would have shaken his mane. Meanwhile, Tug was nuzzling Will with his snout, bewildered.

_Will? You okay there? _He seemed to say. The boy who had caused all this pain started to back off, ever so slowly.

"Stay." Phil's voice menacingly came out of almost nowhere. "You will be charged for harming and possibly killing a king's ranger." The boy was terrified, even though he was just an apprentice, and probably younger than him too. Rangers-and their apprentices- were known for supposedly doing 'dark magic' Alyss just stood there numbly. Hoping. Hoping Will would be okay, this was just a dream, no, a terrible nightmare, and that I would wake up soon. Time seemed to go on, but only at the slowest rate possible. Finally, Phil took charge.

"You." Phil pointed at the stable hand "Saddle up a horse. You will be coming with us. Alyss. You should- Are you okay? You seem a little, hmmm, I don't know." Phil studied her carefully, befuddled. "How about you get onto your horse, and I'll get Will on Tug by myself." Alyss nodded, but continued to stare at Will lying on the ground. A little edgy because of Alyss's stare, Phil kept a wary eye out for her. Pulling up Will into an awkward sitting position, Tug and Nudge came over to Phil, sensing he needed help. They could be so helpful at times. Finally draping him over Tug (somewhat uncomfortably), Phil went over to help Aylss. She still hadn't moved.

"Come on Alyss." He coaxed her over. "Come with me the cabin and we'll get Halt and Pauline." The boy just watched them oddly, as if he'd never seen them before.

The solemn little group started off, towards the little cabin in the woods.


	4. Leaving

**So, if you've read this far into my story, put the code word pizza into your review. It would mean a lot to me if I had more than one review. Remember, PIZZA! **

Chapter 4: Lost

They arrived at the tiny, but tidy and neat, cabin. Alyss sat on an armchair while they put Will on the couch.

"I'm going now." Phil called as he walked out the door. He needed to hurry if he was to get there before lunch time.

"Where?" Alyss questioned.

"To take the stable hand to Baron Arald. Or someone of importance like Halt or Pauline. You don't have to come, and I'll be back before you know it." Phil didn't think she was in a state to come.

"Thanks, I'm grateful for that." Some of the color returned to her face, and she looked a little better. "Bye,"

"Bye!" Phil called, then harshly yelled at the stable band to _scoot his butt or I'll put an arrow through your bony backside so you can't ever sit on it again _seconds later. Only then did Phil realize why Halt liked to threaten Will and he like to threaten Phil. It was fun, and there was a sense of satisfaction to it. The look on the boy's face was priceless. Scared and wary, but obediently walking behind him and Nudge. Misery gripped his heart, and the expression on his face was grim.

"So, boy, what's your name?" it seemed ironic, because they were probably the same age.

"Pete Jr. Jr. sir," he replied, taken aback by his question.

"So, Pete Jr. Jr., how'd you get your name?" Phil asked, quite curious. He needed to keep calm, so that he could sort out the situation. Inside, anxiety was gnawing at him like crazy.

"Well, my father is Pete Jr., and my grandfather was Salt Pete, as he liked a pinch of salt on his meat. I guess the name got passed down." Phil vaguely remembered Will telling him about a Salt Pete.

"So, you guess, eh? Well, if you know what's good for you, never guess in the real world. Can get you bad places." Phil, of course, just made this up off the top of his head, thinking it sounded smart. It looked like Jr. Jr. there did too, as he was nodding along to this piece of 'wise' information. For the rest of the journey, the rode in silence. Arriving at Castle Redmont in about half an hour, the boy looked up at it looming ahead. The sun gave the stone a reddish tint, and the boy looked at it with wonder and amazement. Phil guessed he had never seen it this close before. It _was _quite amazing.

As they approached the gates, Phil waved to the guard to let them in, and then went to the stables. He carefully cared for Nudge, like all rangers, and didn't need to tether her up. Jr. Jr. had a questioning look on his face, especially when Phil started talking to her, but didn't say anything. Eyes wide with fright he followed him inside.

"Ahhh!" Jr. Jr. screamed and jumped like a little girl. Halt has seemingly walked out of the wall, and it brought a smile to Phil's face, even at this grim time. Jr. Jr. looked embarrassed, but it confirmed his suspicions that rangers did preform 'black magic'. He then shrunk back into the shadows.

"So, young Phil, what brings you here? I have to bring a report to Arald. Where's Will?" he asked, a grim expression resuming in his face,

"Erm, Will has been," he paused, searching for the right word, "_hurt_ shall we say, and this boy," he pointed to Jr. Jr. "right here, caused it." Halt looked at him, probably if he should tan his backside or not. Will was like a son to him. Halt could see the distress in his eyes. Jr. Jr. just looked plain scared.

"How bad? He's a ranger. He can't be injured seriously enough."

"Well, he was going to the inn to get coffee, as usual, and cared for Tug in the stables, as usual. So, he left to get our coffee, and Mr. Pete Jr. Jr. here upset Tug. So, naturally, Tug got mad, _really_ mad, and was about to jump on Jr. Jr. here. But, since Will has to have such a big heart, he, of course, jumped in front of Tug to save the boy. I left Will with Alyss in the cabin." Phil explained with a hurried look on his face, as if he had better things to do. Which, he had. Will could be dying, and _something_ had to be done. Shock was visible in his eyes.

"So, you're here to report to the baron because Tug jumped on Will? Well, aren't you worried?"

"Yes, of course! And we're not sure if he's dead or not. But, I say he's not dead because Alyss is pretty set on that he's dead. Someone's gotta try to be somewhat optimistic here. Right?" he tried to convince. And, deep inside, he was really worried about Will.

"Well," Halt commanded, "let's go now! We need to get to Will. I'll save my report for later and I'll go get Pauline." He stomped off, turning back the way he came. Phil and Jr. Jr. hurried to Arald's office and told him the whole story.

They left Jr. Jr. in the castle with Arald while Halt, Pauline, and Phil went to investigate. Once ready to leave, they set off in silence, preparing their selves for the worst.


	5. Time

**Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate them! Again, read, review, and enjoy! And, thanks for the suggestions, but I really don't feel like rewriting it to put that in. Maybe I might put that into another story, if it fits… Sorry if I use some slang that they might've not had back then.**

Chapter 4: Time

Time skip! They're at the cabin now!

"Hello? ? Will? ? William? Treaty? You there? Talk to me. Hey! I'm speaking to! Dude, answer me!" Phil's voice screamed at a groggy Will, still on the couch. Halt, Pauline, and Alyss were watching him with slight amusement. At least they knew he wasn't dead.

"Phil," Alyss said, not unkindly, "I think that's enough for now, you've been doing this for ten minutes now. He's going to eventually be awake. He was stirring, so let him be. I need to replace the ice on his head now, it's melting. Leave him be. "

"Oh." was all Phil could say. But, in his eyes, you could see he was deeply troubled and worried for his master. He sat back on his knees, resembling Ebony who was sitting next to him, cocking her head to the left.

_What's going on? _She seemed to say, licking Phil's hand. _Is he okay? He doesn't look oaky, lying on the couch like that. What's going on? _her intelligent eyes flicked back and forth.

_You're as bad as Tug and Nudge now. Stop asking questions. _Ebony looked hurt, but was quiet. Phil stroked her soft, smooth fur in response.

"Just give him time, he'll come around." Pauline suggested. Next to her, Halt grumbled. He hated waiting and doing nothing. "Oh do be quiet."

"That wasn't me, that was my stomach. I'm hungry." he retorted, but still got a glare from Pauline. He's faced death more times than you can count, and laughed in the face of it, and wasn't afraid of anything. Yet, only his wife's glare could make him shrink back and obey.

"I'll go make some coffee," he resigned, getting up and stalking off to the kitchen.

"Make me some!" Phil called after him. Halt just waved him away in response.

A pot of coffee and an argument about sandwiches later, Will stirred and mumbled in his sleep. Ebony was the first to see. She yipped, interrupting Halt and Phil's heated conversation about whose sandwich was better. So excited, she accidentally nipped Will's hand, startling him awake.

"Where am I?" he questioned. Everyone was by his side now.

"Hey! Welcome back. Are you okay? Do feel alright do you need anything? Food? Coffee? Water, even? A sandwich? Bacon? Coffee? Wait, I already asked that." he shrugged, and Halt told him to shut up. Then, he muttered something about how apprentices were always asking too many questions. They were beasts put into the world and their sole purpose was to annoy the heck out of him. Phil wasn't even his apprentice. Alyss and Pauline sighed, and Will pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Hey Will, how ya feeling?" Alyss was overcome with joy. It was evident on her face, you could see it in her smile stretching ear to ear. She wouldn't have to live the rest of her life without him. Hopefully.

"Eh? Who are you? Where am I?" Alyss looked shocked and afraid. Why had he not recognized her, she's known him for forever. _He's finally gone crazy, _Alyss thought. _It must be that coffee, the way rangers inhale it can't be good for them._ Everybody was leaning over him, looking shocked and afraid too. Ebony licked his hand.

"Well, let me introduce myself. I'm Will. Who are you?" Will had a happy smile on his face, it looked like Will, it sounded like Will, but it was definitely not Will.

"Erm, I'm Lady Pauline," she greeted him, "and this is Halt, and that's Alyss."

"Hey! What about me!" Phil whined. "I'm Phil, you're apprentice." he smiled, thinking this was all a joke.

"Yes," Pauline answered, exasperated. She really did not like Phil's noisy mouth. "I was getting to you. You have to be patient."

"Well, nice to meet all of you, but I really must be going now. And, sorry Phil, but I'm pretty sure I don't have an apprentice. Hope to see you around! Nice place you got here, by the way." he got up, walked to the door, gave a final wave, and headed outside. The warm, cozy cabin was now cold, hope gone and disbelief written all across their faces. Almost all hope had gone with Will, straight out the door. The mood was dampened considerably. Even the friendly, flickering firelight was not so friendly and inviting anymore.

"Well, he's not gonna get far, or he's gonna get lost. There's not much around here." Phil stated, hoping he would come back. Halt just shook his head in despair, Pauline sighed, and Alyss stared at the door.

"Yes, Captian Obvious, we noticed. We're in the middle of the _woods._" Halt said.

"Rodger that, Lieutenant Sarcasm." Phil grinned, giving a salute. _I can't believe he still thinks this is a game, _Alyss sighed. She exchanged worried looks with Pauline. They were going to have a very serious talk with him later.

"I'm going to get some more coffee to soothe my awful headache, thanks to Captain Obvious here." the jaded old ranger got to his feet.

"Yes, yes, get your coffee," Pauline waved him away, there were other things on her mind. "Give him time, he'll come around." As the head of diplomats, she was very composed and calm. Alas, Alyss had given up all senses of diplomacy and had a blank stare on her face. She was still holding on to the fleeting hope that Will did not have amnesia.

"I cannot believe he just did that." she said.

"It was a stupid thing, but my apprentice is known for his stupidity." Halt said, giving a short bark of a laugh at the end as he glared at his water to boil.

"He's not your apprentice anymore." Phil pointed out, rather pointedly.

"Oh, _sorry, _your royal highness," he mocked, "my _former _apprentice." the grizzled ranger bowed, mocking Phil again.

"Hmpf, so now I'm royal and a captain?" the boy pondered this for a moment, giving the others a much needed break from his incessant yapping. At least, in Halt's opinion.

**So, tell me what you think, review, private message, anything! If you really have a lot of suggestions, I might just rewrite the whole thing when I'm done. But, I sadly have a disease called laziness.**


	6. Surprise

**Enjoy! Code word: Penguins. Sorry if I got some of the details wrong, and don't forget to review! :P**

Chapter 6: Surprise

After a while, when Will didn't come back, everyone was silent. Even Phil. They sat there, grimly, while they waited. And waited. And waited. _Knock! Knock! Knock!_ Someone was at the door.

"I'll get it!" Alyss jumped up, smoothing her dress down in the process. It had to be Will. Who else visits them? Rushing to the door, she pushed it open, but her fantasies of having the real Will back shattered to little tiny dream bits on the floor. Her grin slowly went away, and was replaced by a worried look. What was happening? Why were they here? What happened? They noticed the frown on her face.

"Hey Alyss!" Cassandra greeted, while still smiling. "Is Will here? We want to tell you something. Don't worry, it's good news."

"Why the long face?" Horace asked, studying her carefully. They could tell something was wrong. But what?

Alyss couldn't take it anymore, and she simply stated, "He's gone." She turned around and led them inside.

"Oh, hey everybody! What are you all doing here?" Horace asked in surprise as he looked around at everybody's somber faces.

"Hi," came the weak chorus of greetings back. This was not like them to be like this. Usually when this group of friends were together, it was a happy time. Now it was a sad time.

"Well, we have good news, and this makes our job easier now that everybody's here." Cassandra continued, hoping they would cheer up.

"Where's Will? He's invited too." Horace looked around. Alyss burst into tears, and Cassandra went to go comfort her. He gave Halt a confused what-did-I-do-wrong? look. Quietly, he and Pauline explained everything that happened to Will.

"Oh," was all he could say. "Well, we can't just leave him there!" his loud outburst caught the attention of everybody. "Let's go look for him!"

Reenergized be his determination, Phil, Horace, and Halt went out to look for him. Cassandra stayed behind with Alyss and Pauline. Taking their horses they departed for the forest and to the town.

"It's okay," they soothed Alyss. Cassandra was her closest friend and couldn't stand to see her like this. Alyss and Pauoinetold her everything comforted her some more.

"Well, I have good news. I think you need it after all your sadness." the Crown Princess said.

"What is it?" the couriers asked, Alyss with a trembling smile. It must be awfully important if they came all this way to tell her.

"Well, me and Horace are getting married! You are all invited, and you are both going to be my bridesmaids."

"Congratulations! When is it?" this had cheered her up, and she was happy for them.

"We haven't picked an exact date yet, but I'll tell you all the details in our invitation. I wanted you to be the first to know, besides my dad."

"Oh, this is terrific news!" Pauline exclaimed. "This calls for a celebration! We can pick up some pies at the bakery. C'mon, let's go now before it gets too dark."

As they left, Alyss almost let herself forget about Will and enjoyed herself. Almost.

**Well, hope you liked it and review! Thanks for reading! (code word:penguins)**


	7. Home

Chapter 7: Home

Alyss, Cassandra, and Pauline came home in much higher spirits. They were full of pie and yummy pastries, and to top it all off, Will was there! Alyss immediately ran over and hugged him, completely forgetting that worried, nagging feeling in the back of her mind. He patted her back awkwardly in return, not knowing what else to do. Alyss pulled back, and studied him.

"So, Will, do you remember anything?" she was patient, as she was trained to be, but just wanted the old Will back more than anything in the whole world.

"Ummmmmm," he held out the sound for a long time, as if trying to fill the empty silence. "My name is Will, and I don't know where I am, and these crazy people in mysterious cloaks are holding me hostage." Halt raised an eyebrow to that.

"We're not crazy! Rangers are awesome!" Phil exclaimed proudly.

"Shut up, you're very loquacious*." Halt commented frankly* to Phil.

"What?" Phil asked, befuddled*. Pauline sighed.

Eventually, they convinced Will that he _was _a ranger (a super awesome one in Phil's opinion) and reviewed his whole life story. Quite boring, really, especially since they had to go over every little detail with him. I'm not saying that he's boring, just that you've most likely read the series since you're reading this. A few very distressing and frazzling days later, a few very distressed and frazzled people walked out of the tiny cabin needed fresh air. Cassandra and Horace had gone home a few days ago, as they had to royal business to attend to. _He'll be all right, _Alyss convinced herself, rather unconvincingly.

***Vocab. words! I learned them today in school. Loquacious mean 'full of excessive talk, talkative', frank means 'straight forward, sincere', and befuddled is a better word for 'confused' if you didn't know that. **

**Sorry it was a short chapter. I'll try to update more tomorrow. Questions, comments, reviews? They're all welcome so hit that little button on the bottom right there. Thank you for your consideration (if you reviewed). Or PM me. :P**


	8. Hope

**Hiya! So, I'm planning on only having 2-3 chapters left, and I also plan to have it finished by next weekend. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: (Have I been forgetting to do these?) I, unfortunately, *sniff, sniff* do not own Ranger's Apprentice. The awesome Mr. John Flanagan does. **

Chapter 8: Hope

As said before, in the last chapter, they convinced Will and all that stuff, blah, blah, blah. Moving on from that idea.

"Will!" someone called out. _Oh yeah, _he remembered,_ it's that boy again. The one who asks too many questions ._Will had been with Phil and Halt for almost a week now, but he was still out of it. He would often wander off while doing some chores that they assigned him. Alyss came to visit frequently, along with Pauline. Halt taught him all the ranger skills and techniques, trying to spark his memory. In his conscious mind, he didn't remember, but deep in the clouded depths of amnesia his subconscious mind remembered. He naturally knew the skills by instinct, but of course he had been trained as a ranger before. Halt, Phil, Gilan, and even Crowley had come over at some point to check up on him. Gilan even offered to take Phil off Halt's hands to make his life easier. Phil profoundly refused. By throwing what's close to what you call a temper tantrum. Needless to say, Halt had a lot more gray hairs than that morning. And a lot less coffee.

"Will! Will!" Phil snapped his fingers in front of his face, trying to get his attention.

"W-what?" he mumbled, as if coming out of a deep sleep. He looked lazily around wondering why he was lying on the floor.

"Will! You're on the floor! Get up!" Phil screamed, once again in his face. Halt sighed and slapped himself in the face. He really wished someone would come over right now. Just to kill that annoying little spoiled brat that went by the name of Phil. Suddenly, a knock resounded through Halt's thoughts. Walking over to the door, he found two girls, one tall and elegant and one slightly rounded, with a jovial look in her eyes.

"Alyss?" Will asked groggily, actually remembering her name this time. Spotting Jenny and the basket in her hand, presumably filled with her delicious pies, he exclaimed, "Jenny! So nice to see you!"

His exclamation surprised everybody, most of all Jenny. In return to his hug, she awkwardly patted his shoulder, thinking _I thought he had amnesia. So, why does he know me? _Not think too deeply about it, Jenny said, "Nice to see you too! Glad you remember me."

Excitedly grinning like little kid with candy, he pointed at Jenny. "See," ha accused, "I do remember some of my friends." Halt blinked and looked around, trying to see if anybody was around with some nice hot coffee. Not seeing anybody, he sighed and went to the kitchen to go brew some. Alyss and Jenny took that as an invitation to come in. Happy and jubilant, Will followed with a new spring in his step. Everyone was. It had given them hope; it had given them strength to move on. _I knew he would, _Alyss told herself._ I knew he would._ It was such a small thing, yet only they knew how much it had impacted them. Hope.

**So, that definitely wasn't my best chapter, but I hope you like it anyway. Remember to review! See ya next week! Or next chapter, whenever that is. :P**


	9. At Last

**Thank you for all that reviewed! :) I'm terrible at writing Alyss, I can never seem to get her right…so don't criticize me **_**too **_**much. Wow, I haven't updated this in, like, 3 weeks or something.**

Chapter 9: At Last

At last they had hope. At last they had something they could cling onto, something that would help them through the days. It had been almost a month now since Jenny had visited, and Will was making a little progress, but not much. Endless days and weeks tore at Alyss' heart, hoping one day Will would snap out of it, recognize her, and everything would be okay. But it wasn't. Jenny tried to visit, but the restaurant kept her very busy. Which was good for her, she was doing very well, but Alyss wished she could just talk to her longtime friend about everything. Everything was mixed up, upside down, just _different _without the old Will. She missed everything about him, even though he technically was there. The Will there was an empty shell, often wandering around, but with his hair, eyes, shortness, and smile. It was very bizarre, as if she was in a different dimension, as if _she_ was the stranger not right in the head instead of Will. _What if Will never comes back, what if Will's never right again, what if—Stop. _Alyss sternly told herself. _This is not going to help Will and you know it. _

"Will, we're going to go over names today." Phil told him slowly. The goal for this month was for Will to at least learn the names of Halt, Pauline, Phil, Alyss, and maybe even Ebony. The month was almost up, and, alas, he had not remembered a single one except for Ebony. And Jenny, of course. It was odd, Will spent time with her the most. They would often watch the sunset together, and sit by the fire when it was chilly. It was quite surprising that it was the _dog _who cared the least. Over time, Will and Ebony had fallen into a routine when they were at home. Eat dinner, have some more coffee, then play. It was quite simple, really, for an intelligent border collie like her to understand. It seemed she had adjusted comfortably to this new change in routine, Phil was surprised to notice. (Well, I think it's surprising when Phil notices anything but whatever.)

This went on and on, I really don't need to go over the details because it's basically the same. I don't want to bore you. One thing though: Phil gets really frustrated and mad (I would too) after a while he loses it. He really needs help from Alyss or Pauline…couriers are good at this controlling-your-emotions stuff. We'll pick up there for now…I'm such a lazy writer.

"WILL!" Phil shrieked in his face, almost deafening them. Alyss and Pauline sighed, and Halt merely raised his infamous eyebrow. Good things never came out of situations like these, when Phil went off on a tangent, ranting about the situation at hand, then cheese, then flying kids and their talking dog, then someone named Harry Potter, then back at the situation at hand, and so forth. It took a while to calm him down, and it had been a long day. Pauline, Halt, and Alyss retired for the day, resigning themselves to their horses' backs on the ride back to the castle. They decided to leave Phil with Will there; they knew they would be okay. Phil had an outstanding length of loyalty for Will, although Alyss skeptical of leaving Will behind with _Phil. _She really didn't have high regard for him, even though Will did.

"I'm not going," Alyss stubbornly stood in the back doorway leading to the lean-to. Pauline sighed, what other problems did she need? _I'll leave her here, Pauline thought._

"Fine, make sure Phil gets his coffee before going to bed otherwise you won't hear the end of it." Alyss smiled wryly at that, it had happened to her once while Will had been out for the day and she was with Phil. It reminded her of the good old days, but then suddenly a wave of remorse washed over her. _No, _she told herself. She couldn't afford to think like this, it seemed as if so much was at stake. Waving half-heartedly good-bye, she turned back into the cabin. It seemed as if Phil was still at it. Now he was talking about stars and wars, and someone named dark invader or evader? Alyss shook her head, the stories those boys at the market would tell.

"Alyss?" Will started, seemingly nervous. Startled but surprised, Alyss whirled around to face Will. Inside, he heart soared. _At last he had remembered her name, _she remarked.

"Yes Will?" she replied.

"Can you please get that annoying nincompoop to kindly shut up?" Alyss laughed out loud, this was wonderful! So very, very fantastic, amazing, astounding, astonishing, brilliant…I'll stop now. But you get the point. Alyss smiled a real smile for the first time in weeks, she had never felt lighter. Almost like she could fly…then that brought her back down to Earth (no pun intended). It reminded her of Phil who sounded like he was ranting about those flying kids again. _I wonder what it would be like to soar up above like birds. _Carelessly shaking off this thought, strode over to Phil with new confidence with Will in tow. She hardly had a care in the world, as if nothing else mattered. Of course, there were other things but it all boiled down to this. Will Treaty was making progress, and for the rest of the night that smile never left Alyss' face. At last. **  
>So, I hoped you liked it and sorry to all of you who want to read this because it took forever to update. I would say I will update <strong>**later or tomorrow**_**next weekend **_**but we all know that's not going to happen :)  
>Review anybody? I'm up for one :) Even though this probably wasn't my best chapter…Why does fanfiction filter out some things like smiley faces and multiple question marks? I will experiment with it now…<strong>


	10. Therapy

**Hola! I will not talk about waffles this time… I just realized Will rhymes with Phil which rhymes with Gil… I think deeply too much about names…**

Chapter 11: Therapy

Therapy is weird. Sometimes some ways work for some people, sometimes it has no effect. This was one of the weirder cases. Will had been suddenly reawakened by Phil's ranting. Halt said that all those years of his screaming had become deeply lodged in his brain, and that had activated many other things related to many other things, and whatnot. Alyss and Pauline sat there politely, nodding in the appropriate times as their Courier training kicked in. Phil was pretty sure he didn't know what he was talking about. But, then again, Phil never knew what _he _was even talking about half the time. Sometimes he wondered how he even came to be a Ranger's apprentice. Like, to the legendary Will Treaty. Phil had simply been hiding in the woods, then Will stepped out of a tree, then suddenly he was his apprentice. His mom was so proud of him for once, and _that _was a foreign idea to him. The only way he dealt with it was through his ranting, for some strange reason. But Phil was a strange boy. Will knew there was some link, but never really truly realized it. All in all, he thought this realization had come over him, waking him up from what Alyss described as a deep, unlively sleep. Slowly, slowly, slowly, he made his way to the road of recovery.

**Was that good enough? It was short…It has to be more emotional! Read on, fellow fanfictioneers! I will combine this and the epilogue since they're so short…**

Chapter 11: Epilogue: Relieved

_Later…_

Will lay in his bed, next to Alyss, just thinking about everything that has happened to him. He had been accepted as a Ranger, helped defeat the villainous Morgorath, fought a terrible warmweed addiction, helped save Skandia from the Temujai, saved the Oberjarl in Arradia and found some really great coffee, met an amazing healer and saved Macindaw, saved Conmel, saved Halt from the edge of death, help Horace in saving the Emperor of Nihon-ja, and did a lot of saving in general. He had an amazing life, and never wanted to lose it. He had been so close to never remembering anything, not Alyss, not Halt, not Tug, not Pauline, not Horace, the list went on and on. He would do anything for these people (and animals). It still pained him to think of this. He fully realized how painful this had been for those he loved, him being there, but not being there, so close, yet so far away. His mind wandered among this train of thought, and he got up to watch the sky from his window.

Quietly praying, he promised this wouldn't happen again, and he fiercely promised it wouldn't happen to anyone he loved. His lips parted and the seemingly sacred words flowed out, under his breath he prayed.

From the bed, Alyss smiled.

**I spelled everything wrong in the epilogue, didn't I? Remember to review!  
>Does anyone know how to write a story with two authors? Like, so they cowrite it? I want to do that but don't know how…any input is pretty much welcomed :) <strong>

**Oh yeah, I have **_**finally**_** finished my first fanfiction! HAPPY DANCE! I am so proud…of myself :)**


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